Blair's friend dragged into tourist chief fraud probe

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Lord Pendry, a former Northern Ireland Minister, was involved with a US tourism official at the centre of the inquiry.

He helped Warren "Mac" McLaughlin, former head of the Palm Beach Visitors Bureau, hold the parties in the exclusive Parliamentary dining rooms - reserved for MPs, peers and their guests.

More follows...

Labour peer Lord Pendry is a close friend of Tony Blair

Now thousands of dollars in expenses for the receptions are being examined by an official investigation into Mr McLaughlin's spending.

Mr McLaughlin, who headed the wealthy Florida city's tax-funded tourism operation for nearly 20 years, retired last year in the wake of allegations of 'gross mismanagement' after another senior official was revealed to have stolen nearly $2million (£1million).

He had no part in the theft but the probe began to focus on the bureau's lack of internal controls and his own spending. He ran up massive bills while flying around the world on bureau business - including the 90-minute drinks receptions in Parliament, booked by Lord Pendry, to coincide with an annual London travel trade show.

In 2003, according to Mr McLaughlin's expense claims, guests enjoyed champagne, wine, spirits and canapes at a cost of nearly £3,000. In 2005, champagne, chardonnay, pinot noir and hors d'oeuvres were offered at a cost of £2,110.

Lord Pendry said: "I was involved in three or four, maybe five, receptions in the House of Commons and the Lords. I met the Palm Beach people when I was Shadow Minister for tourism. They expressed a desire to have a party in Parliament. They paid the bill.

"I don't get anything for it. It is a bit of Anglo-American relations. I don't think there was anything sinister about it. I think it has all been declared; if not, it is just an oversight."

Mr McLaughlin has denied the allegations of "liberal spending".